a lovely collection of color photos from circus in the 40’s and 50’s

These vintage shots dug up by How to Be a Retronaut are some of the earlier color photographs of circus folk you’ll ever see. Culled from The Circus Book: 1870-1950, they were shot at traveling camps in the ’40s and ’50s, they’re absolute eye candy for any fan of vintage glamour and girl power. A lovely aerialist flashes a daring smile from a curved headstand on the grass. Girls pose with their pet puppies and baby lions. From the most gussied up showgirl striding between the trailers in red feathered wings, to the cheerful brunette dressed down to slacks and a crop top, carrying buckets, all these girls sparkle with something so enviably fresh, free-spirited and charming, we might just run off to the circus.